


Gone

by orchidbreezefc



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-19 02:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17592998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchidbreezefc/pseuds/orchidbreezefc
Summary: For the Tumblr prompt: "I told you not to fall in love with me."





	Gone

**Author's Note:**

> I could have made this fluffy. I didn't.

Jack has always had this uneven grin that makes you feel like he knows something you don’t. But it doesn’t feel like it’s exclusionary, or at your expense–it’s somewhere between him having a surprise for you and you reminding him of a private joke that he had forgotten about, from good times.

So maybe that’s why Jack is so magnetic. Maybe it’s just that simple--his smile that speaks of a hidden joke, that has always made Sammy want to be in on that joke, and the feeling that Jack would let him if he asked. Maybe it’s his laugh, or the sparkle in his eyes, or the warmth in his voice. Maybe it’s just that meeting him and Lily, so unabashedly out and proud, made Sammy want something he never allowed himself to want before.

Jack catches Sammy a couple times being hopelessly charmed, and he grins that same grin and warns, like that same joke Sammy’s desperate to hear, “Don’t fall in love with me, now.”

It’s much too late for that, of course.

A lifetime later, they run away. Sammy feels bad about Lily; he feels worse about the way Jack begins to distance himself after a few months of joyous planning and looking ahead to the future. Sammy tries to talk about it, but the conversations are one-sided. Sammy has never been good at talking about his feelings anyway, so doing it with a distinct lack of his fiancé’s input is almost impossible. Most nights he gives up and leaves Jack to his notebook and computer.

The fights grow more frequent. Jack accuses Sammy of not understanding; Sammy says he’s trying but god, how can he understand when Jack won’t tell him anything? He has nothing to work with, and yet Jack gets angrier. Sammy’s furious too, with Jack disengaging from the life they promised each other.

Sammy wakes up one Tuesday morning to an empty bed. He scowls at the thought of Jack staying up all night reading for the goddamn notebook. Sammy is up and dressed before he realizes the closet had been suspiciously empty. His heart goes into his throat and before he knows it he’s scrambling down the stairs to the living room. No Jack. No coffee in the pot, no scattered papers about the paranormal, _no Jack_.

Sammy has started calling his name, finding his voice rough with desperation, when he sees it. The duffel bag by the door. He approaches it with dread, and opens it. Jack’s clothes, enough for a week at least, haphazardly piled in because Jack never did have the patience to fold and pack properly. Jack’s laptop and papers, now gathered into a folder. Toiletries. Snacks. Oh, god.

When Sammy goes outside, Jack’s car is running, and another container of snacks is in the passenger seat, but he’s not there. It’s like he took out the food, started the car, and came back in to get the bag, and then…. what? Disappeared?

Sammy looks everywhere. He’s not desperate enough yet to knock on neighbors’ doors, at least not yet, but if Jack is still undecided or still here somewhere, he needs to catch him and talk him out of this. He goes to every room and checks fucking twice, as if Jack is going to magically appear in the ones he already looked in. Finally he fishes his phone out of his pocket with shaky hands, praying for an answer. There are no notifications, but maybe….

When he unlocks it, he finds the voice memo app open. Sammy clicks the new memo, his stomach solidifying into lead.

“Hey, Sammy. I hope you’re hearing this, a voicemail didn’t make sense, because I’d have to call you, but I had to say something and I always--you know I always felt better saying things than writing them. Anyways.” Jack pulls in a deep sigh. Sammy feels like his legs are about to give out underneath him. “I’m off to King Falls, I’m sure you figured that part out already. I’m sorry, I just--I need to do it. Sammy, I… I know you deserved better, but… I…” Jack trails off, like he has nothing left to say, nothing he can give. Sammy can practically see him shaking his head hopelessly. “I told you not to fall in love with me. Goodbye, Sammy.”

The voicemail clicks off, and Sammy collapses to his knees and weeps.


End file.
